The Natural
by amazingmicrowave
Summary: Three years after the events of the High Lord. Aleka has been a slave of a cruel Ichani for half her life, but when her powers release themselves naturally her only chance of survival is to cross the border to Kyralia and should she make it what will the guild do. My first fanfic. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

_Hi, I'm amazingmicrowave. This is my first fanfic so be nice and I hope you enjoy._

The wasteland that rimmed Sachaka was a harsh place and could be fatal to those without magic. This was especially clear to Aleka as she wiped a damp cloth over the wounded slave's forehead. He had fallen from a ridge two days beforehand and his wounds had become infected. He had collapsed that morning and it was becoming increasingly unlikely that he would survive.

Aleka gently lifted a bandage from a wound on his arm. The wound was deep and the bone broken. Aleka had done her best but the wound had putrefied and the smell alone made her feel ill. Her master had given her the task of caring for the man and she knew she would be beaten if he did not live. Slaves with magical potential were hard to come by.

She heard footsteps coming from the entrance to the cave. She caught her breath when she caught sight of her master. She dropped her gaze and bowed deeply.

He ignored her and walked over to the wounded man. The man was barely conscious. "Master", he croaked feebly. The look on her master's face was something close to disgust.

He turned to her.

"Will he live?" he asked coldly.

"I, em, I- I don't", she stuttered, startled by the question.

"Tell me, slave! Will he live?" he yelled.

"I doubt it, master" Aleka said, timidly staring at her feet.

An unseen force hit her, knocking the breath from her lungs and knocking her backwards. Her head struck the wall and everything blurred. The force pushed against her, pressing her against the wall. The force shifted so it was pressing against her throat, strangling her. Her arms were pinned by her sides.

"I told you to make him better," her master yelled, "how dare you disobey me!"

"I'm sorry, master", she choked.

His expression softened till he looked almost sympathetic but she knew better than to believe that such a man was capable of sympathy for a mere slave.

He leaned closer.

"Your mother was troublesome too. You remember what happened to her, don't you?"

The force released her and she collapsed to the ground, gasping and coughing.

"Yes, master", she managed between coughs.

"Now", he said, turning away from her, "I had best deal with this one".

She watched helplessly as he drew his blade and slit the wounded slave's throat. The slave struggled desperately and sputtered on his own blood, then went rigid as her master pressed his hand against the wound. When her master finally turned to leave, the wounded man lay still. His eyes stared lifelessly at her.

Her master wiped blood from his hands with a rag and dropped it beside her.

His words were quiet and full of warning.

"Fail me again, slave, and I might not be so forgiving".

With that he left her alone with the dead man.

When her breathing returned to normal she left the cave. The other slaves were sleeping below an outcrop of rock beside her master's tent. She found a spot and lay down.

She thought about the dead man but felt little sympathy or mourning. When it came down to it, it hadn't been her and that was something to be thankful for. One just had to get used to such things if they hoped to live long.

That was just the way of it in the company of former Ashaki, Morano.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey, Amazingmicrowave here. I will be updating this story at weekends because during the week I am in boarding school. Thanks to and SatiaShade for reviewing._

Aleka shivered. It was now nearly summer but it was still cold this early in the morning. She filled a jug from a small stream that ran along the floor of the canyon. Nella, another slave, had just left with her own jug full.

Aleka knew that she should hurry back to the camp but it was early and she had not slept well that night. _Dreaming of mother again, _she thought, then quickly pushed the memories away. Some memories were more pain than they were worth.

She sat down on a rock and enjoyed the warmth of the sun on her face. Master Morano would not be up for an hour or two and any slave that should notice her absence would not report it for fear of Morano. One of the major flaws of slavery.

None of the other slaves would dare to take rests from their work but of course, they had been born slaves. All they knew was unquestioning obedience, but she was not just another slave, her light skin alone marked her as different.

A low growl snapped her back to reality. Her head turned to the side and her breath caught in her lungs. It was a Sachakan furak, a much larger cousin of the limek. It skulked towards her, drool dripping from long fangs that extended past its jaw. Its coat was an ashen grey colour.

She backed up against the wall of the canyon. It must have come here for water and any prey that water might attract, like squimps, zill, ravi and, apparently, slaves.

She looked about frantically, hoping desperately that her master would be there to save her. But Morano was back at the camp fast asleep and there was no way to alert him of her situation. The furak was creeping closer sniffing and growling. She feared to yell out in case it caused the beast to attack and she could not be sure she would be heard if she did.

The furak's legs bent and she knew what would come next. Fear rushed through her. _This is the end_, she thought. She was sad but at the same time slightly relieved. As her mother had said, "A slaves life is no life".

The beast pounced. She threw her arms in front of her face and she screamed, letting out all the fear and pain she had stored up inside. There was a whooshing noise, followed by a thud. She opened her eyes.

The furak lay on the other side of the stream, bloody and mangled.

She looked around for her master. This could only be the work of magic, but her master was nowhere to be seen. "Master?" she called, expecting Morano to appear, but he did not.

Something occurred to her. The way she had let out everything she had kept inside. Maybe she had let out something she hadn't expected. But no, that couldn't be possible. Maybe Morano was playing some sort of cruel trick on her, but he could not have predicted that she would be attacked by the Furak and even if he had come across her by chance it was unlikely he would think to fool her. And besides, he had been fast asleep in his tent about fifteen minutes ago, after drinking a bit too much wine the night before. He rarely went for a walk and he certainly never went before breakfast. She weighed out all of these possibilities and realised it had not been Morano who had used magic.

It had been her.


End file.
